Yesterday
by Kuro49
Summary: Faint TiedollKanda. Yesterday was a time of the past; they took a sip of their tea and waited for tomorrow to come where they will repeat the scenery all over again.


-nervous nervous- Oh wow, my very first TK (despite how bland the TK flavor is in here)! And man… I don't think anyone but Momosportif has tried and totally mastered! (I threw in a hint of the petit oiseau concept from your TK works, hope you won't mind…;D ) I don't own, just a first timer at this.

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**Yesterday**

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He was always late; whether it was for meetings, mission briefings or even just lunch on a sleazy Saturday afternoon. He liked to reminiscence, whether it was the bad or the good or just everything that did not have a seemingly fitting category because he was drifty like that. And everyday, well into the days, he would still look as though he had just been roughly shaken from a drowsy dream filled of the French skies that he had left behind.

But him on the other hand was an early bird, always neat and perked out at the edges. Stretching out the feathers in those unused wings, he was used to watching the sunrise alone in his dusting nest of a room. Out at the earliest hours of the morning, he would train away the youth in his eyes. But there would always remain a razor sharp glint in the thin shield of ice, sort of like his beloved katana, Mugen.

Noticing things that he rather not, whether he wanted to or not.

Just like the fact that he never had a choice in entering this so called Order.

"I waited for you all afternoon yesterday."

He looked up from the crinkled colored papers in his hands at the voice in the doorway, that polite intruder who had never once stepped into his room without an invitation or an usher. But the late afternoon sun could not compare to the sharp gaze from those liquid blues.

He gave a huff of an annoyed breath as he flipped back a black lock, feeling as the door frame dug into his spine. His tone wasn't accusing or cross in any manner, rather it came out to be a calm statement, as if he had expected the results all along.

"Oh my, I think my old brain had failed me after all." He gave a low chuckle and that smile never faded, no matter how faint it had now worn into.

"Tea?"

The topic was quickly changed, whether it was intentional or not, neither tried to think too much. It was only words and neither of them would even speak this language if it wasn't for the God that planned this all along in the heavens above where he played with his puppets and watched the world diminish with a glee in those holy orbs.

An English teacup was offered in the air, he pondered whether this was really a good idea or not. But the dust floating in the air made him avert his eyes, the other took it as a curt nod and ushered him into the room.

He didn't bother resisting, just like all those years ago where the man's hand had found his own.

"Earl Gray?" He tipped the teapot without waiting for an answer, after all this _was_ the only tea available. He didn't reply, just grimaced slightly at the horrible name chosen for these dried dark leaves dunk in hot water.

"I know, horrid name." The General too gave a disapproving glance as he watched the dark liquid sloshing into the cup. "English men really ought to think of better names for their teas."

The two shared a bit of silence as the tea settled comfortably in their cups, nestled in the firm porcelain structure crafted with details that neither ever gave a care to.

"So Yuu-kun, what tea do you like best?"

"お茶。" The words slipped from his lips before he could even register, his mother tongue coming loose as the floorboards glowed an intense orange from the direct gaze of the sun, just right over the borderline of trees.

"O-cha?" The other repeated after him, now not only with just a French accent, but also tainting it with the distinct curl of a syllable that only a European could muster. Kanda nodded in approval, although his general's accent was something they needed to work on.

"Is that green tea in Japanese?"

Kanda seemed taken back that the other knew he liked green tea but he bit his tongue and replied as calm as can be. "No, it just means tea. Green tea is so commonly drunk in Japan that it is just referred to ocha as well."

Tiedoll nodded in understanding, he took a sip of the now cool drink in the cup, the bitter tinge that it left behind always made him reminisce on the romantic cafes tucked away in the narrow local streets of France, where their smell of coffee beans drifted to the balcony above. And the little house birds perched on the railing would sit still and ruffle their feathers but never once would they spread their wings to take flight.

"So how was the mission last time, I heard you got a nasty gash."

Another conversation starter to relight their speech. Tiedoll knew he didn't need to look directly at his pupil to expect an answer; Kanda had a lot more initiative than he was accounted for.

His eyes turned back to the colored paper, splashed with paint drying as the walls were now taking the turn, burning as the sun sets into the dark waves of the sea.

"It was nothing." He never told his General about the flower because he knew there wasn't a point in telling, and adding more worry on that man's shoulder was not a bit rewarding, rather it was painful, especially as he watched age take a hold of his hands.

"Ahh…" He murmured, lips still tilted in that smile. "That's good to hear." He never asked about that tattoo or the strange flower because he knew there was no point in asking, he couldn't do anything even as he watched the life drain from those eyes.

"The mission was successful right?" He really didn't care much for the mission or the innocence but it always came with the question of how are you, because how he was intertwined with the work he did. There was no point in trying to separate the two.

"Yes." He hesitantly paused to take a drink from the cup, it was bitter and it was Western, he missed the refreshing taste of green tea. "Just one level 3, that's all."

"And to think you are only 18." Tiedoll felt guilty to know that he was the one who led Kanda into the war, taught him about the Earl, the devil and all the Akumas in their way. He felt like he was destroying a life as he watched that little boy absorbing in all those horrific details that he was forced to recall.

"I was just learning how to work my innocence when I was 18."

"I turned 19 a few months ago." He didn't know why he had to protest at that, he let too many things slip by and this time he was surprised, why didn't he just let this one slip too?

"You are always a kid to me." Tiedoll looked up from the paintbrush at the paper and reached over to give the other's hand a pat.

"I am not a brat." Kanda leaned back in the chair, lips frowning as he took another sip, cup just in the way of the faint colors that had brushed on to his cheekbones.

"You are certainly acting like one right now." Tiedoll had to stop himself from smiling further. Kanda instantly put down the cup, crossed his arms over his chest and averted his eyes the other way. Tiedoll on the other hand just let that easy smile slip further away from another, eyes twinkling behind those wire framed glasses.

"How long did you wait for me?"

"An hour." He lied and they both knew that it was an outrageous lie because he had indeed waited there for almost five and not only did it start to rain did he walk back in, body drenched in the cold rain that people hushed to be God's tears.

"Pourquoi? I remember it was raining yesterday too." He furrowed his eyebrows, the corner of his eyes crinkling as he gave a small shake of his head.

"I went in before it started to rain." He turned back to the man, his General and assured him.

"I always do this to you, ask you to a walk, only to never show up because something came up or I simply forgot…" He shook his head as if in self-blame.

"…It doesn't matter, Gensui."

It was this type of cold dry comfort that only Kanda could provide.

Tiedoll looked up, face once again lit up with that faint but sure smile. And again, just like before he reached out and took a hold of his hand, fingertips gently rubbing circles on to the skin. He wanted to resist, pull his hand back and his Gensui would have understood it all but he didn't and he waited, searching in those eyes for a reason.

But this time even his keen eyes caught sight of nothing, or at least nothing that stood out. He closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at the General.

"Your tea is getting cold."

"That's alright."

And then he gently placed his hand back to where he had picked it up from but before he tended to his cup of now cold tea, he gave Kanda's hand a few more pats.

As if in a sense of _I'll be here_.

He wanted to ask but he felt like it just wasn't right, just like the millions of yesterdays that had already passed them by. Life was short, they both knew it, they just never bothered to act on it.

It was stupidity that kept me waiting, wasn't it, Gensui?

"Give me another chance, how about tomorrow afternoon?"

Tiedoll's lips still remained in that faint but sincere smile. He gave a final touch up of the watery painting he had on his papers.

"You have to go for a mission the day after." He informed his General, rather than giving him a direct response.

"I am not that old," he gave a warm laugh before placing down the paintbrush still wet with the color red. He turned in his chair and looked at his pupil, voice boosting with confidence. "I'll be there for sure."

Kanda rolled his eyes in slight exasperation but gave a curt nod nonetheless; he let these things slid too easily. And this time was just another run around their circle of what should be a father-son relationship.

"But just in case."

And before he could register what he was doing, he had already reached over and took a hold of his Gensui's hand. Soothed out the finger and surveyed the desk for a certain something he would need.

Tiedoll looked at the other with an owlish curiosity.

He snatched it off the surface of the messy desk and placed the cold point of the blue pen right across the surface of his Gensui's palm.

"Now you make me feel stupid." Tiedoll couldn't help but smile at the scrawl of words right in the middle of his hand. Kanda just stuffed his hands into the pockets of his sweater and stood up, cheeks feeling the stuffiness of the room baking in the now set sun.

"Now you won't forget."

He walked out of the room that day, tongue still tasting bitter of that dreaded tea with the equally dreadful name.

XXX Kuro

It's a date then!! –insert wink here- Just joking XDD Translations: _Pourquoi_, the only line of French that Tiedoll said in this whole fic, it means why. And the お茶 thing shouldn't be too hard to decipher, right? :3 Review?


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